In wall? Towers? Bookshelf?

I'm very new to the HT world and am very excited to get my dedicated HT room complete.

I just bought Panasonic PT-AE900U projector and now am shopping for speakers. I did research and found that BIC Acoustech had good reviews (for the most part), and definitely fits my budget (which is most important since we just had a child). My question is, should I go with the In Wall, Towers or Bookshelf? I'm assuming the towers put out the most sound between the 3? I was leaning towards in wall speakers simply because of the clean look, but would rather not sacrifice sound for looks. So can someone shed some light as to the sound differences between the 3? Also, what are your opinions of their subwoofers?

I have the H-100 sub and I've been very pleased with it. I would argue that it's probably best-in-class for under $300 subwoofers. However, my understanding is that stepping up to the SVS PB-10 for about $450 is a very, very dramatic step up. If you've got the money for the SVS, go for it. Otherwise, the H-100 is a pretty good low-price substitute.

With a dedicated HT room you don't have as much WAF/SAF to deal with. Thus I would go with the towers. 2nd bookshelf. And last the inwalls.

For towers, I don't have any great suggestions, but have heard nothing but excellent things about Swans and they can be had at an excellent price from newegg.com. Also, you didn't put up what your budget is so we are a little in the dark.

For bookshelf, there is a myriad of choices and the ultimate selection choices depend on your budget. But for the smaller budget, the SVS bookshelfs are supposed to be excellent and they have a package with the PB10 or PB12 sub, which are the best of the best for their price range.

I had a big WAF to deal with when building mine since it is also our family room. My wife was tired of years of looking at my towers and made me get inwalls when we built the new house. I went with NHT IW3s and am very very happy with them. But since they are inwalls and lack the low end and now impact down low, I had to up the sub and went with the PB12-NSD/2.

If I had my choice though, I would have gotten towers. But WAF and 2 very small children who would climb or mess with the towers made me feel OK about inwalls.

hi brian i just got a 3 angstrom sonata from soundpros.com that sound wonderful. the sonata can be hang on the wall or can stand on the floor. i would call and scott can make you a good deal. see ya rusty

In walls are nice for the look - but you have no flexablity in placement, later upgrades, etc.

I find the monitor-style speakers with a good external sub tends to be the best bang for the buck. The smaller speakers tend to have identical tweeter/midrange to the towers, but at 30-50% lower price. Having an external sub gives you the ability to place the sub in the optimal positions in the room (which is NEVER where your L/R speakers are) and gives you upgrade options later.

And forget about towers being more 'powerfull' or louder. This is a myth. Towers with built-in woofers SUCK more power from your receiver. Monitor style speakers with a external, self-powered sub are actually superior because your amp is not trying to drive woofers. This gives all the power to the 5 tweeters and 5 mid-ranges. Let the sub have it's own amp and be able to place it in a corner of 2 long, un-broken walls and you will have an outstanding system.

Tower speakers are often more efficient than monitors alone (perhaps by as much as 2db) However, the monitor/subwoofer combination often has more than twice the power. (100 W for the monitor, 150 W or more for a subwoofer). And as I'm sure everyone is aware, a doubling of the watts yields 3 additional decibels... (source: brief look at b&w's dm60x line)...

Do yourself a favor, and stay away from in-walls. That is, if you want good sound quality. Speakers do not like surfaces nearby, period. That's why if ever you read a speaker review worth anything, they say put the speakers as far into the room (away from walls) as much as you can. 3 feet usually does it, some a little higher some a little lower depending on design. *Some* speakers have a proximity switch (or adjustment) for placing closer to walls, but it's just fake EQ to try and compensate for the bass reinforcement that occurs.

It always amazes me to see $30g setups in those fancy visual HT magazines ... where the dufus has in-wall speakers.

And note, that HT mag for example *never* publishes freq response graphs for in-walls. Why? (And I've asked them even though I already know the answer.) Because they suck.

If it's not worth waiting until the last minute to do, then it's not worth doing.